METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints are even thinner at wide receiver after placing Tre'Quan Smith on injured reserve with an ankle injury he sustained in Sunday's 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Smith, who is a standout blocker in addition to his pass-catching role, will have to miss at least three games, including the Saints' playoff opener.
Saints receivers Michael Thomas (ankle) and Deonte Harris (neck) are already on IR for the remainder of the regular season -- though coach Sean Payton said the goal is for Thomas to be as close to 100% as possible for the start of the playoffs.
"I just felt with Mike it was real clear," Payton said. "Man, he was grinding and productive and catching eight balls, nine balls. But it wasn't gonna get better until football stopped, just by the nature of the ankle sprain. And so look, if it was 'win this one, you get in or not,' then I think our approach would have been much different. But we've got a pretty good feel that he can be closer to his 100% -- and I don't know if it's exactly his 100% -- but closer to full speed. And that's a tremendous asset for us. And in fairness to him right now, we've got a little bit of that luxury."
The Saints (10-4) have clinched a playoff spot. And they can clinch their fourth straight NFC South title with one more win or a loss by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5) over the final two weeks. The Saints still have an outside shot at the NFC's No. 1 seed, but they need help from other teams.
New Orleans has lost two straight games, and the lack of receiver depth was noticeable in Sunday's loss to Kansas City. Drew Brees started 0-for-6 passing for the first time in his career before he tried to rally the Saints back with three touchdown passes.
On a positive note, the Saints activated undrafted rookie receiver Marquez Callaway off the IR list in time for Friday's game against the Minnesota Vikings. Callaway caught eight passes for 75 yards in a game earlier this season when the Saints' receiver position was similarly thinned out. New Orleans' active receivers for Friday will be Emmanuel Sanders, Callaway, Austin Carr, Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Juwan Johnson.
Smith, a third-round draft pick from Central Florida, set career highs in his third NFL season with 34 catches and 448 yards before sustaining the ankle injury Sunday. He had four touchdown catches -- one shy of the five he had in each of his first two seasons.
The Saints also ruled out starting free safety Marcus Williams (ankle) and part-time starting guard Nick Easton (concussion).
Guard Andrus Peat (ankle), defensive end Trey Hendrickson (neck) and defensive tackle Malcom Brown (calf) are questionable.